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| Contents |
Issue No. 353 - 30 January 2006 |
Editor's Message
Funeral of Anton Rupert
Letters to the Editor
Quote/s of the Week
Life Recipes
News from Kiwiland
Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week
Bits and Bobs
The Legal Beagle
Help Desk
Where are they now?
Club and Other News
Humour
Recipes
Boertjie Worldwide
South African dam levels
Credits and Contact Info
Subscribing and Unsubscribing
| Send this Issue to a Friend! |
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What excitement SAW has brought me!
Making contact with the previous correspondents, as well as finding new ones:-
From New Zealand.: Welcome to Jan Coetsee who already has several newsletter topics lined up.
From Parys :- The Rev.Bob Clarke who also has several articles lined up for the future newsletters. Both have led interesting lives & so have tremendous insight into a wide variety of topics.
Making contact with our Correspondents has been most interesting too, as several know people & places that your truly knows too.
Please let me have some feedback on how you like the content of the SAW Newsletter so far?
Theo
editor@saw.co.za
| Funeral of Anton Rupert |
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Hundreds at funeral of Anton Rupert
January 26, 2006 By Karen Breytenbach
Hundreds of leaders in business, politics,and culture brought traffic to a standstill in Stellenbosch as they arrived yesterday for the memorial service for one of its most distinguished citizens, Anton Rupert.
The international entrepreneur, conservationist, and patron of the arts died on January 18, barely three months after his wife, Huberte. He was 89.
The historic Moederkerk in the centre of Stellenbosch was filled to the doors, with people who conveyed their condolences to Rupert's brother John, his son Johann, daughter Hanneli Koegelenberg, grandchildren and other members of the family.
Rupert's other son, Antonij, died in a car accident in 2001. The church was sparsely decorated with two protea arrangements set beside the imposing carved wooden pulpit.
The service was conducted by James Gray, of the United Church in Hermanus, who said Rupert had touched countless, millions of lives in South Africa, Africa and the world and believed in righteousness and justice.
Read more...
http://www.capetimes.co.za/index...
| Letters to the Editor |
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Visa-advice needed
Dear Editor
Could you please advise me regarding a student visa? I am currently on a working holiday visa, which expires in May 2006. I've saved enough money for my studies, but I'm not sure what to do.
The course starts in September 2006. Do I have to have a student visa before I could pay my deposit? What documents do I need from college to apply? How much is the fee for the visa and how long is the application period?
I've been living and working in the UK for 18mths on a working holiday visa I have a house in Barnsley, South-Yorkshire and I've been to Barnsley College and there's a place for me on a
Access course for Law I have an appointment there tommorow
when I'll be paying the deposit and signing the forms.
I will send you any other information you require. I'm South African.
Thanks
Liz
peterwhite1@bulldoghome.com
An old friend is better than two new ones.
Baking the Bread
Recently I returned to South Africa from a preaching tour in England. One of the strangest things that I noticed in speaking to other South Africans was how quickly the conversation turned to food. Top of the list was 'the braai', within a few days my wife and I had attended three braai's. Whilst the men gathered around the fires the ladies often discussed South African cooking.
A subject that has interested me for many years. I have collected thousands of recipes but am actually a very bad cook. However I have had some success with baking bread. Of approximately nine thousand recipes I bake abou ten that are more than just edible.
In my search for recipes I have gleaned much from the internet and books, sadly without always keeping a record of where I obtained the information.
From one article I took the following that has to do with a bread made in the ashes. Askoek is a dish which has been known to man since the earliest times and its equivalent is even mentioned in the Bible.
A variation on the theme would also be known as griddle cakes or cake on the griddle. It has been a popular food in the camps of nomads, hunters, and on the warpath, since time immemorial.
There are no real hard and fast rules as to how askoek should be made. The principle is just to get some kind of grain flour cooke by the most simple method possible.
The word askoek literally means "ash-cake," although in the Afrikaans folk terminology, a person who has done something silly, would also be called an "askoek," as a kind of mild insult.
Ash cakes can be leavened or unleavened nd although they are usually made from wheat flour, any kind of cereal flour will work. So you who are far from your roots might try to make the following:-
Ingredients: Some water, milk or buttermilk, wheat flour, salt to taste, a little butter or dripping, a little active yeast, if desired.
All that needs to be done is to mix the desired quantity of flour (with salt to taste) with just enough water to form a good, firm dough. If a leavened product is desired, a teaspoon or so of active yeast should be added along with the salt. Sifted flour always works better, but in camp, this is not always practical so this step may be omitted.
If available, milk or buttermilk should be used instead of water, as this gives a better taste and consistency. A little butter can also be added to improve the taste and smoothness. In camp, fat was often used instead. If yeast had been used, it might be a good idea to allow the dough to rise a little. It can be kneaded down again and allowed to raise once more, or may be used straight away.
There are many variations. Now roll little balls and press flat,thus forming disks about the size of a hamburger patty, and roughly as thick as a man's finger. Place these onto the grid iron, or bake them on hot flat stones. If none of these are available, the bread can even be placed on clean, hot coals - hence the name ash cakes. Askoek is best eaten hot and was usually served with butter or fat melting into it.
By the way, during the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness one of the temptations was, 'turn these stones into bread'. In the area of the temptation there were round flat stones, greyish in colour and to a person, hungry after a long fast it would be easy to imagine the flat ash cakes. Strange how so much temptation starts with just looking, progressing to desiring and then to taking or acting on the desire to make it reality.
Ed:-
The Rev. Bob Clarke is an Anglican minister, licensed both in the hurch of England in South Africa and in the larger Church of the Province of South Africa.
He is presently the minister of the Anglican Church in Parys, Free State, which is in the Bloemfontein Diocese, and is also one of the ministers of St Peters United Church, Denysville.
His main ministry is in the Prayer Union for Israel, an interdenominational organisation which has been active in South Africa since 1894. Bob heads up this work as the Director.
Trained as a horticulturist, he also worked for the Botanic Gardens in Pietermaritzburg as the Assistant Curator, until he went into the Theological College. There are many other interests that he has, but the most interesting is his involvement as a representative for
'Keren Kayemeth', the Jewish National Fund, which is involved in the greening of Israel.
Ensure a soft landing in Kiwiland
by Jan Coetsee
Since our family arrived here in 1997 we have heard of and seen many instances of migrants from South Africa who have been taken for the proverbial ride. No, do not interpret that statement that Kiwis are out to mislead new arrivals - far from it. Rather, new arrivals - in these particular examples - were taken for the ride by fellow South Africans.
For instance: An ex Captain in the South African Police who arrived here with his wife and 4 children after paying an immigration consultant a massive "consultation fee" and then discovering that her advice was totally inadequate and even bordering on fraud. Initially attempts to contact the consultant in Cape Town were in vain and when he eventually got hold of her, she convinced him to go to an address in Auckland where his work permit would be waiting for him. Needless to say, our police captain had no joy from his visit to the Queen Street address in Auckland City. The delay resulted in him losing a potential job and he eventually ended up working as a labourer at minimal wages for a few months before his fortune changed.
Another example: a family of 5 arrived here after consulting a migration agent in Pretoria. Bright-eyed and full of passionate hope for a positive future, they discover that said consultant merely took their R16000 and did nothing for it. Here in Kiwiland, the family could not find the consultant's local representative who was supposed to arrange temporary accommodation and they landed in a motel where the daily tarrif quickly eroded available capital.
Also, they met a fellow-South African who saw in them an opportunity to make a quick buck - well, 6000 quick NZ$ in this case. How? He convinced them that he had a bargain for them in the form of a gas-guzzling Japanese used car. What is more, he even managed to arrange 100% finance for the purchase.
At NZ60/week this family is now paying back the HP debt. Add to that their rented washing machine and refrigerator, house rent and even the average weekly income would be stretched to afford food on the borrowed table. In this case, however, the matter is worse. You see, our friends are not employed - yet.
Why? Because said migration consultant failed to procure a work permit which is a pre-requisite for this particular migrant to find employment in this country.
And then there was the couple who arrived with two suitcases, enough funds to sustain them for 6 weeks and little else! Had it not been for members of the local South African migrant community's willingness to help newcomers, these and several dozens of
"Oulanders" would have been thrown to the wolves.
Yes, New Zealand is a beautiful country with many opportunities for people who have transferable skills and suitable training.
Yes, New Zealand has become the new home for many migrants from all over the world - also from South Africa.
Yes, New Zealanders speak English, drive on the left hand side of the road, drink beer and adore rugby.
And yes, there are several other similarities and more reasons why people from South African would want to make their future here.
Why then, do I write about these negative experiences in my first article for SAW?
Simple: to assist potential migrants to New Zealand to avoid the same traps.
Do your homework.
Use reputable migration consultants.
Establish contact with other South Africans who have lived here for a while.
Confirm all information by checking with other sources.
Invest in airfares to come on a LSD-visit (Look, See, Decide)
Most migrants who have followed these rules are now well-established and integrated "new Kiwis" who proudly fill positions in every branch of this country's economy and life. Their children excel in the local education system and the entire country benefits from their skills.
In that process many Kiwis have been converted to appreciate biltong, boerewors, melktert and koeksisters through their efforts.
However - despite this, the pavilion at Eden Park remains a battlefield!
(Jan Coetsee is the producer/presenter of The Protea Hour, a bilingual radio programme for South Africans living in Auckland. The Protea Hour can be heard on Sundays @ 14:55 on Auckland Community Radio's frequency: 104.6 PlanetFM.
| Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week |
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Table Mountain blaze rages on
Cape Town - There was no sign of the wildfire raging across the lower slopes of Table Mountain above Cape Town's city bowl, and Lion's Head and Signal Hillletting up, city fire chief Piet Smith said on Thursday night. Instead, the fire was actually spreading down the south side of Lion's Head and Signal hill, threatening houses on the Altantic seaboard, including Fresnaye,Camps Bay, and Bantry Bay, he told Sapa. The fire was being driven by a howling south-easterly and was still out of control.
Read more ...
http://www.news24.com/News24...
Table Mountain fire contained
Cape Town - The flare ups on Table Mountains have been contained since the mountain blaze broke out on Thursday afternoon, SABC reported on Saturday. A spokesperson for the Cape Town fire department said firefighters contained various "hot spots" early on Saturday morning after strong winds started fuelling the flames again on Friday night.
Various fire fighting teams were on Saturday still monitoring about eight areas from the Cape Town city bowl to Cape's Bay. Residents in the area told SABC that the fire had caused them some anxious moments.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa...
Alleged fire starter gets bail
Cape Town - The British citizen who allegedly started Thursday's Table Mountain fire in which a woman died appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Friday morning. Anthony Cooper, 36, was released on bail of R3 000 and would appear in court again on February 10, police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Tummi Golding said. Cooper - who faces charges of culpable homicide and arson - was arrested on Thursday for allegedly starting the fires when he dropped a cigarette on the mountain. An elderly British woman died, reportedly of smoke inhalation, when the fires engulfed the mountain. Read more...
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa...
Fynbos extinction feared in fire-ravaged Cape
By Helen Bamford
The devastating series of fires that have ravaged large parts of the Western Cape, including Table Mountain, probably wiped out species of fynbos in the unique Cape floral kingdom as well as animal species.
Val Charlton, spokesperson for Working on Fire, told the Sunday Argus that plant and animal species were likely to have been lost in the widespread series of fires this summer. Fynbos has evolved since before we were around and it needs fire to survive but not as frequently as we are seeing. Without a doubt we will see extinctions. Read more...
http://www.iol.co.za/index...
Art works in the ancient hills
By Angus Begg
Hendrik Marais, of the shaven head, twinkling eyes and deep-rooted passion for the study of man, is the enthusiastic owner of Forum Homini, SA’s latest boutique hotel, situated in the Cradle of Humankind outside Johannesburg.
Read more...
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?newslett...
Chapman's Peak toll plaza saga
by John Yeld
When motoring author Bob Johnston and his new wife Jean stopped to admire the view from Chapman's Peak Drive while on honeymoon in 1952, they reported that not a single other car passed them during their half-hour long stop. Times have certainly changed in just over 50 years.
In particular, the world-famous drive has been declared a toll road in terms of the Western Cape Toll Roads Act and is operated in terms of a 30-year "build, operate and transfer" concession contract signed between the Provincial Government and Entilini Concession.
But is the traffic flow now so dense that it warrants substantial, permanent toll plazas?
Yes, definitely, says the Province and the concessionaire. Absolutely not, say many objectors. So just who is correct?
Read more...
http://www.iol.co.za/index...
Land worth R2bn returned
Land worth R2.2bn has been restored to South Africans who lodged land claims, the Land Claims Commission said Friday.
Read more...
http://www.mweb.co.za/news...
Malaria kills six in Gauteng
Johannesburg - Malaria has claimed the lives of six of 483 people admitted in hospital for the mosquito-borne disease in Gauteng this year. The health department has denied there was an outbreak of malaria in the province. Spokesperson Bhungani ka Mzolo said: "We don't have that breed of mosquitoes in Gauteng." However, it was "concerned and on high alert" about the rapidly increasing infection rate since the beginning of the year.
Ka Mzolo said: "It is people who travel outside Gauteng who contract the disease. "Holiday-makers coming back from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique,Namibia and Limpopo, are the ones being treated in local hospitals."
Read more...
http://www.news24.com/News24...
SA needs more guns, says new lobby
by Clare Nullis
South African gun lobbyists were launching a new organisation on Thursday to press their case that more -- not fewer -- weapons are needed to curb crime in a country notorious for murders and armed robberies.
The outspoken executive director of Gun Owners of America, Larry Pratt, was drafted in to back demands for the scrapping of post-apartheid legislation restricting ownership of firearms.
"I can predict that the violent crime rate and murder will increase if this law continues to be implemented," Pratt said ahead of the inaugural meeting of Gun Owners of South Africa. "The only way to tackle this Wild West scenario is to allow the good guys to have guns ... The criminal in South Africa has too much freedom of action, too much job security."
Read more...
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage...
Nobody seems to need help !
Nobody needing help this week.
No requests received
No reports received.
Being old
This received from Ken Cram
I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.
Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman: "And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?" the reporter asked. She simply replied, "No peer pressure."
The nice thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs.
Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, "How old was your husband?" "98," she replied. "Two years older than me." "So you're 96," the undertaker commented. She responded, "Hardly worth going home, is it?
I've sure gotten old.! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees. Fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license.
A 97-year-old man goes into his doctor's office an! d says, "Doc, I want my sex drive lowered." "Sir," replied the doc tor, "you're 97 Don't you think your sex drive is all in your head?" "You're damned right it is!" replied the old man. "That's why I want it lowered!"
An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her preacher she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Wal-Mart. "Wal-Mart?" the preacher exclaimed. "Why Wal-Mart?" "Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week."
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Know how to prevent sagging? Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.
I've still got it, but nobody wants to see it.
I'm getting into swing dancing. Not on purpose. Some parts of my body are just prone to swinging.
It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffeemaker.
The good news is that even as we get older, guys still look at our boobs. The bad news is they have to squat down first.
These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, "For fast relief."
I've tried to find a suitable exercise video for women my age, but they haven't made one called "Buns of Putty."
Don't think of it as getting hot flashes. Think of it as your inner child playing with matches.
Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get back up!
Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop laughing.
The senility prayer: Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.
Now, I think you're supposed to send this to 5 or 6, maybe 10. Oh heck, send it to a bunch of your friends if you can remember who they are.
More about Pilots
More about Rules: the rules are a good place to hide if you don't have a better idea and the talent to execute it. If you deviate from a rule, it must be a flawless performance. (e.g., If you fly under a bridge, don't hit the bridge.)
The pilot is the highest form of life on earth.
The ideal pilot is the perfect blend of discipline and aggressiveness.
About check rides: the only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the bastard out of your airplane. It has never occurred to any flight examiner that the examinee couldn't care less what the examiner's opinion of his flying ability really is.
The medical profession is the natural enemy of the aviation profession.
The job of the Wing Commander is to worry incessantly that his career depends solely on the abilities of his aviators to fly their airplanes without mishap and that their only minuscule contribution to the effort is to bet their lives on it.
Ever notice that the only experts who decree that the age of the pilot is over are people who have never flown anything?
Also, in spite of the intensity of their feelings that the pilot's day is over I know of no such expert who has volunteered to be a passenger in a non-piloted aircraft.
Artichoke Green Bean Casserole
2 large cans of Artichoke hearts
1 can of french style green beans
2 cups of bread crumbs
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 - 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbs lemon juice
olive oil
Mix bread crumbs, garlic, cheese, and lemon juice together. Drain the green beans and the artichoke hearts then mix together with the bread-crumb mixture. Add olive oil to moisten, enough so that mixture is no longer dry. Bake at 350 degrees C for 30 minutes.
Submitted by Bob Clarke.
Top 10 foods with hidden fat
Carine van Rooyen, www.health24.co.za
We all know that chocolates, cakes and cookies are loaded with kilojoules. What about your other favourite foods? Could hidden fats be lurking in them too? If you're trying to get your body in shape for the beach, it might be a good idea to take a peek at this list of the top 10 foods with hidden fat – and cut down on them:
http://www.health24.com/dietnfood...
Paging a Life - Part One
A most recent birthday present set me to thinking about the role books have played in my life, and I am sure in the lives of many of you reading this.
So, if you will bear with my rambling, I would like to take you on a trip through the pages of my reading in the hope that you will remember your own special books.
Like most people my earliest reading memories were of course of nursery books. What was different for me, though, was the fact that my parents were both very much bilingual and that they had a number of English friends, so even though I may have been in a small village in the middle of the Karoo or the Cape Midlands, English books were always at hand.
Bringing me up to be able to read and appreciate both English and Afrikaans books was one of the greatest gifts my parents could have given me.
I remember discovering and totally submerging myself in the Fritz Deelman books when I was nine years old. Then followed the obligatory Trompie series, and at the same time I devoured Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven books. By the time I was eleven I was reading PJ Schoeman's hunting tales and Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine series.
Reading was already a passion with me, and I always managed to find time for a good few hours' read per day, in-between school, playing cowboys and Indian or Boer and Brit out in the veld, building gang houses or what the Aussies call billy carts and we knew as
"kaskarre", or generally getting up to the wild and sometimes dangerous antics of any boy who grew up in the South African Platteland in the Fifties and Sixties. Rainy days were always a blessing, and to this day I love those days when the clouds lurk low and sheets of rain pelt against the windows, sough down the roof and turn the world into a snug, wonderful place full of the fragrance of wet earth and the mystery of mist.
It was, however, when I was twelve that I stumbled across an author who was to be the first truly to lead me into a wonderland, where I felt utterly at home. I will never forget that wet, blustery winter's day in Petrusville when I stepped into the town library and idly took a book from the shelf, attracted by the unique cover. It was Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. I took the book home and was lost to the world for hours!
In the two years that followed I managed to beg and bully librarians in four towns to order titles in, until I had read all twelve books available.
Whether it was Ransome's consummate skill as a storyteller or whether his tales of children having adventures afloat or in the fells and dales of the Lake District touched some ancestral memory buried deep in my psyche I still do not know, but I found in his books a world that I could recognize as the world I would live in more than any other. I vowed one day to own my own boat, and to allow my children to taste the indescribable bliss of being a child.
Many years later I did have a boat, but I was not quite as successful in sharing my love for Ransome with my children. Never mind, all three of them love reading, and that is the most important.
Mooiloop
Ray
** A special footnote: My very best wishes to Theo Truter, our new editor. You have saved SAW Mail, Theo, and for that thousands of Saffies all over the world are deeply indebted to you.
May your days as editor be long, extremely long, and full of success and the joy to be had from this marvelous venture. Sterkte!
| South African dam levels |
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Vaaldam
The Vaaaldam is now rapidly filling up! See the graph here...
http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Hydrology...
Bloemhof Dam
See the graph here...
http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Hydrology/FFDamOpt.aspx?stationno=C9R002
At the time of writing, the Grootdraai Dam at Standerton is full.
| Credits and Contact Info |
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South Africans Worldwide - SAWmail Copyright © 1998 - 2006 Maesti
Editor in Chief: Maureen Cram
Editor: Theo Truter
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